OVERVIEW: Mike Curb, his wife Linda and family move their philanthropy through the Mike Curb Family Foundation.Curb has bankrolled a number of music programs at colleges and universities around the country including at California State University Northridge, Daytona State College, UCLA, and Bethune-Cookman University. Curb has also funded arts and media outfits, and has purchased and restored historically important music sites. Curb's philanthropy also involves antipoverty outfits. The foundation's website is limited and provides no clear avenues for getting in touch.

BACKGROUND: Born in 1944, Mike Curb went to Grant High School in California's San Fernando Valley, and attended Cal State Northridge while founding his first record company in his early 20s. In 1969, Curb merged his company with MGM Records and became president of the MGM Company, working with artists such as The Osmonds and Hank Williams Jr. Curb founded Curb Records and the Curb/Warner label, which released numerous top-selling singles. He's also an award-winning songwriter and has served as California's lieutenant governor.

ISSUES:

HIGHER EDUCATION: Mike Curb has heavily focused his philanthropy on higher education, particularly on university music and music industry programs. California State University Northridge received a $10 million gift last decade to create the the Mike Curb College of Arts, Media, and Communication. The Mike Curb Family Foundation has supported the college more recently as well. Apart from his alma mater, Curb has funded similar initiatives at a number of other schools. Among these are Baylor University, site of the Curb Learning Lab for Music & Entertainment Marketing; Belmont University's Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business; Bethune-Cookman University's Mike Curb Music Business, Entertainment & Sports Institute; UCLA's Mike Curb Music and Technology Lab at the Evelyn and Mo Ostin Music Center; CSU Channel Islands' Mike Curb Studios; the Mike Curb Institute for Music at Rhodes College; and the Curb College of Music Entertainment and Art at Daytona State College.

Curb's philanthropy at Vanderbilt, meanwhile, includes the Curb Family Rehabilitation Clinic and the Curb Center for Art, Enterprise and Public Policy, a "a national policy center committed to research and teaching that challenges leaders to rethink the place of art and creativity in our world." He has also given sums to Claremont McKenna outside of Los Angeles, where there's a Curb Professorship for Business and Law.

Apart from higher education, Curb has supported Junior Achievement, where there are two free enterprise centers in Nashville and Los Angeles, as well as KIPP Aspire Academy-San Antonio.

ART & MEDIA: Curb has supported music and cultural outfits such as Grammy Museum, Johnny Cash Museum, Nashville Symphony, and the Memphis Rock n' Soul Museum. The Grammy Museum is home to the Mike Curb Gallery. In 2006, the foundation purchased Elvis Presley's first home on Audubon Drive in Memphis, Tennessee, and has worked to restore it and other historic music sites. Curb is also a motorsports enthusiast. There's a Curb Museum for Music and Motorsports in North Carolina.

OTHER: Curb also has an interest in poverty and homelessness and has supported antipoverty efforts in Tennessee. One outfit that has been funded is Second Harvest Food Bank. He also supports churches.

LOOKING FORWARD: Mike Curb is an active philanthropist. It's unclear how much he's worth, but expect more money to continue to stream to his select interest areas.

CONTACT:

The Mike Curb Family Foundation does not provide a clear avenue for getting in touch but the address is: